Chasing After Love
by Illuminating-Darkness
Summary: The Makino Corperation has built up a empire that rivals the Domyouji's. Makino Tsukushi, the heiress, is now the most logical heiress for any young heir to marry, including the members of the F4. The chase for love is on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**** My HYD fanfic =D I just like writing one, ok this is totally AU, in this story, Tsukushi is rich and pretty etc etc you'll find out everything =)**

**Oh and, this chapter will be BORING BORING BORING is more of just a introduction but I promise it shall get better =)**

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A flute lay on the table, next to the music stand which had sheets and sheets of music on it. _Jupiter from the Planets_ was the piece on the top. Over an the other side of the bare and unfurnished room, music was flowing out of the violin that a young dark haired girl was holding. As the radio started to sound, she looked up and listened with slight interest.

_Over the last five years, the Makino Corporation has built an empire of trade that today, rivals the mighty Domyouji Corporation. They together, control more than half of Japans economy and if either were to fall, there would be a serious fall in the economy of the world, and if both were to fall at the same time, it would mean a disaster for the worlds economy and would effect the everyday life of every person. Rumors of the marriage of the heiress of the Makino Corporation to the heir of the Domyouji have been proved as false, but not impossible in the future, as a marriage between their families would mean union that controls just about all of Japans economy and trade. The most probable marriage for Makino Tsukushi are, apart from Domyouji Tsukasa, is either Hanazawa Rui and Nishikado Soujiro, both heirs to powerful companies. Also, the rumor had emerged that-_

The girl in question that the report had been quite focused about turned off the radio with a press of a button. Makino Tsukushi was already used to the endless rumors that would emerge about her, she had never met her "potential suitors" as the reports put it but had, of course heard of them and had been educated to know who they were and every aspect of their company.

Tsukushi sighed and then put her violin down carefully on her bed and walked over to her CDs. Randomly pulling out a CD, she walked over her entertainment system and put the CD in and listened. As the music started, she frowned as if she was thinking.

The violin music that was on the CD was certainly not hers, but beautiful in its own peaceful way. Tsukushi stood there, just listening to the music. As the song finished she made a call, asking who had given to her. She was told that the staff would try their best and inquire into it.

The CD changed automatically, and another song started up. _Nocturnes_ by _Jay Chou_ Tsukushi thought, remembering when she used to listen to that song. She was Japanese, as her name implied, but as the heir to a powerful company she knew how to speak Mandarin and English as fluently as Japanese, her native language.

* * *

The phone in her room rang, breaking into the music. Pressing another button, Tsukushi answered the call and put on her headphones with the microphone.

"Tsukushi? It's your father here" the voice said.

"Yes papa?"

"Can you come over to my office for a while? There's something important to discuss"

"Yes papa, I'll go now"

* * *

Sitting in the limo, Tsukushi wondered why she was going to the main office. It had to be a business related topic, after all, she had done anything that would please anyone or cause her father to call her to the office without a good reason. As the limo stopped in front of the office, Tsukushi stepped out and looked up at the building. She had been to it and inside the magnificent 43 story building several times already.

She stepped into the lift and waited to arrive at her fathers office, which was, very inconveniently at the top floor. As the lift opened at the top, she saw several grim faced security guards waiting for anyone who entered. Tsukushi waited until they had scanned her for weapons then walked forward and knocked on the office door, and then entered.

"Ah Tsukushi!"

"Hello papa"

"You must be wondering why I called you here so I'll get straight to the point."

"Yes papa"

"Well, Tsukushi, I've received a marriage proposal for you"

* * *

**A/N: Reviews? Anyone? The support I get will probably determine whether I will continue the story~**

**Oh and she plays Flute and violon coz I do as well so i know them the best xD  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Tsukishi stared. She had expected this but surely, this was a little too soon, after all, she was merely a seventeen year old girl.

Meanwhile, Chairman Makino just carried on speaking.

"Or rather, to be more specific, I've received several marriage proposals for you."

Tsukushi gave a slight jerk of her head as she looked up. 'Excuse me papa?" she interrupted politely, a few hundred thoughts running through her head.

The Chairman smiled slightly, " Now you see the dilemma. You see, if you marry one heir, it may offend another one, and if you marry the most powerful heir, then it will cause more problems as well go in deeper through world economy."

Tsukushi considered this piece of information, then she sigh inwardly. She had always known from a young age that her marriage would be one of convenience, not that her parent didn't care about her, which they did immensely, but such were the ways of rich businessmen.

"So" Tsukushi said, picking out her words carefully. "May I know the names of my prospective husbands…?"

The chairman sighed, and picked up a file on his tidy, but paperwork covered desk.

"There are actually the heirs to foreign businesses wanting to merge or form an alliance with us, well as several of Japans largest businesses. I have already narrowed the names down to the possible heirs."

Tsukushi nodded, not saying anything.

"There is Hsu Jei Zun, although I remember his English name being Carlisle. He is from a Taiwanese company that has offices in Taiwan well as mainland China, New York and Australia."

Tsukushi nodded, accepting the file on him that her father was handing her.

Then the chairman continued speaking.

"I'm sure you will already be familiar with the next few names. There is Nishikado Soujiro, and as you should know, his family runs tea ceremonies and such. There is Hanazawa Rui, heir to Hanazawa Enterprises. Those three are the ones I think are the best, of course, if you strongly oppose any of them, I will respect your wish within reason."

He paused in his speech for a slight moment, and held out the two folders, but Tsukushi sensed that he was not quite done talking yet.

As she expected, he opened his mouth to talk again.

"Now comes my biggest dilemma. I've also received a proposition from the Domyouji Corp."

Tsukushi immediately understood why her father was so worried.

She stretched out her hand to receive the last file, and glanced at the cover. On it was a picture of a curly haired boy one or two years older than herself.

"Thank you for your time Tsukushi, you can go home and think now." The chairman said smiling warmly at her.

Tsukushi bowed then left the room, thinking all the way down the elevator, then in a limousine ride back to her family mansion.

* * *

"Known playboy, goes to nightclubs and returns to hotels every night with a different women, currently dating no fixed women, etc. etc. etc." Tsukushi muttered, throwing down the file that detailed Nishikado Soujiro's both personal and professional life, well as a detailed description of his family business and connections. "I don't even want to meet this guy" She finished, pushing the file away from her and onto a bedside table next to her bed which she was currently lying on.

She randomly picked up another file, and saw that it was the curly haired, precious, Domyouji heir. _Better get it over and done with _she thought, opening it. The words, "Bad temper", "Red tag", "Abuses power at his school", flew out from the profile, _he sounds nearly as bad as the Nishikado boy. _His file was also pushed over to the side.

Tsukushi sighed, pulling out one of the two files left. In her opinion, Hanazawa Rui sounded a lot more decent than the previous two files. He was a quieter boy, sleeps a lot, and rarely shows emotion. He had no romantic life, despite going to a co-ed school and having many girl fans. And almost as a bonus, he played the violin as well. She re-read his file and then put it aside for consideration, although she already knew that she would ask her father to consider him over the other two.

The last file left was on the Taiwanese boy, Jei Zun, as she picked it up, she noticed that, from the picture on the cover, that he was slightly older, around nineteen or twenty years of age. He was exceptionally good looking, and Tsukushi wondered if she was holding the profile of another useless playboy. She opened the file, and started reading. He was known by his friends as either Carlisle or Kenny, he was an only child, and was also, like Tsukushi, homeschooled so hadn't had the chance to make many friends. Because of that, he had not found a girlfriend. He is heir to a business that is one of the most influential in Taiwan and China, well as in several other countries outside of Asia.

As Tsukushi was about to close the folder, a handwritten note fell out. The writing was her fathers.

_Tsukushi,_

_Next week on Tuesday evening, their will be a ball. The heirs to the Hanazawa and Nishikado companies will be attending, the Taiwanese boy, Jei Zun will be flying over to join. I'm not sure about the Domyouji heir. I hope you will attend._

_Love,_

_Papa.

* * *

_

Placing the files in a small drawer, Tsukushi walked over to the violin, picked it up delicately, attached the shoulder rest, raised it to her collarbone and the melody started to flow out. Many people would laugh at her choice of violin music; after all, how many people would pay a Chopin composition on the violin?

The melody fell lower and lower until it suddenly soared high and higher, filling the once silent room. The sorrow of departure in the music changed.

_From the sorrow of leaving, the music sounded of a new beginning.

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**A/N:**** Thanks to xXMidnight's InsomniaXx and danella.23 for reviewing, well as the 3 other reviewers "yume" "kina" and "lalalala" (lol?)~**

**I hoped all of you enjoyed this chapter~ please review (reviewing makes me happy+write faster xD) Any ideas- please PM me or leave it in a review, if I likes and can put it into the story, I shall do so and credit =)** **So, moral of teh story, reviews please~ I luv to see how I'm doing **


	3. Chapter 3

As the days passed by, the preparations for the ball become more and more apparent. As for Tsukushi herself, the usual fuss that normally ha

ppened before a ball started. The dressmaker came to her mansion, her measurements were taken, and the design of her dress was decided upon, and the dress arrived shortly after, as always, it was custom made for the occasion.

Yawning and looking at the time on her alarm clock, Tsukushi climbed out of her bed, and changed into clothes that were more suitable for her to spend the day in than pajamas, even if they were silk pajamas. As she pulled on a navy blue blouse and jeans, the clock behind her glowed 8:15.

Tsukushi sighed as she realized it was the day of the ball, knowing that she would be forced to waste more than half her day doing pointless things like get her hair done, then spend hours just putting on the dress. She walked downstairs, and sat down at the main dining table.

A person, reading a newspaper was already seated behind the table at the head of the table when Tsukushi took a seat. This itself was unusual as the table was just about almost empty, with her mother and younger brother currently in New York for business and her father already at work.

"Good morning papa"

A face appeared from behind the newspaper and it opened its mouth to speak.

"Ah! Tsukushi! You've awoken, I've got something to tell you

"Yes papa, I'm sorry to keep you waiting" Tsukushi replied, wondering what it was.

"Do you remember what I told you about a Taiwanese boy? Jei Zun? Well, he's going to be your escort tonight. It would be a nice chance for you and him to know each other better."

Tsukushi gave a slight start at this. She has not expected this. A simple greeting, maybe a dance or two and a exchange of a few sentences was all she was bargaining for, not the whole escort business.

_Maybe this will be a good chance to practice my mandarin, I haven't spoken it in quite a while _Tsukushi thought to herself.

* * *

Dress fitting and arranging it so it is perfect, 2 hours.

Nails done perfect, 1 hour.

Hair treated and done up perfectly so the saying "not a hair out of place" become reality, 4 hours.

Last minute checkup, half an hour.

At the end of this, Tsukushi was not pleased that nearly eight hours of her time had been spent in such a way, and that at the end, she even realized that even if they had cut down more than half the time they spent, she could have still looked the exactly as glamorous and beautiful as she did now.

* * *

A sleek, glossy private jet landed in Tokyo airport. The runways were being cleared immediately for the jet, flights were being delayed and the whole timetable of the airport was being disrupted, but if the gave the men in the jet lower priority, they wouldn't be in business for much longer.

The young man sitting inside the jet didn't even look up from his laptop as the plane landed, the constant tapping of the keys continued.

"Master, we have arrived at Tokyo Airport." An older man, dressed in a suit and bowing formally announced.

The younger 'Master' looked up and smiled at the man, nodding.

"Thanks for telling me, I've just been reading up on some information. Now, the ball starts at 6:00 right?"

"Yes sir, you will be expected to meet the heiress of the Makino Corp."

The young man paused to think for a while, then he smiled slightly, a idea forming into a plan in his head.

"Ling, you do know how to contact the Makino Corp right?"

"Yes master."

"Call them now and ask them whether Miss Makino Tsukushi needs a escort for tonight's ball."

The assistant, Ling, went out of the room, pulling out his cell phone from his pocket, which incidentally, had many of the newest security features and technology features that weren't available to the general public, and wouldn't be for a few years.

After a few minutes of negotiating, Ling walked into the room with a slight smile.

"Miss Makino Tsukushi accepts the escort of Master Hsu Jei Zun tonight."

* * *

Inside one of the plainer, but defiantly one of the most important rooms of the Hanazawa residence, three boys were getting ready for a ball. Two of the boys sat on the bed, chatting animatedly about the girls they would meet there, while the other sat by the windowsill, gazing outside at some unknown scenery that only he could see.

One of the boys suddenly broke off his conversation.

"Its too bad Domyouji couldn't be here, eh Rui?" he said, looking over across the room at the other boy.

The lighter haired boy, Rui, looked over at them,

"Yeah, I suppose so, he's still in Beijing or somewhere on business" he said without expression, not sounding like he really cared much at all.

One of the two boys and snorted, "Yep, that old hag sure is making him run all over the place"

The other boy looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"You might want to be careful about what you say about the Domyouji head, she can easily make your business collapse Soujiro."

The teenager sighed and said "You're right, as always Akira, do you know just how good you are at peacekeeping?"

* * *

Tsukushi sat down carefully on her bed, making sure that she was not damaging her dress in any way. She picked up the book she was reading earlier before she had been dragged off to get ready for the ball, she guessed that she would have about half a hour before her escort, Jei Zun, or Carlisle, or Kenny, or whatever he liked to call himself arrived. The book she was reading, was in English, a language that would have baffled most people, but she had been tutored in it, and had even gone abroad to study for a year. The experience of having guards surrounding her everyone moment at school and questioning everyone who wanted to be her friend was not a pleasant experience.

"_Grievous is our loss" said Legolas. "Yet, we must needs make up our minds without his aid. Why cannot we decide…"_

Tsukushi continued to read the classic, pausing to consider the words every so often, she had read the book before but re-reading a book was always new in some way, she would be pondering over different things every time.

The phone in her room suddenly rang, Tsukushi answered it, and the voice of the house butler informed her that her escort "Master Hsu Jei Zun has come to escort you and is currently waiting at the main doorway."

Tsukushi sighed, put her book back down on her bed, sliding her bookmark into it as she got up and then walked out of her room.

As she walked into the main entrance way, a maid walked up to her, bowed, and handed her a fluffy white shawl, then helped her drape it appropriately across her shoulders.

"Thanks" Tsukushi muttered.

The maid bowed again then stepped back.

Tsukushi walked up to the door, and it was opened by the butler, she smiled at him, then stepped out coming face to face with a young man that she recognized as Hsu Jei Zun.

Tsukushi froze for a minute, she had not expected her escort, someone she did not even know come straight up to her door to pick her up, she stared at him, taking in his handsome face, surrounded by almost childishly spiky hair, which had obviously been jelled back unsuccessfully.

He suddenly cracked a smile.

"We match" He said to her flawless Japanese.

Tsukushi also cracked a smile, taking in his black tuxedo, with a single light green stripe running down one sleeve and the one leg of his pants.

They did, indeed match with her black dress, which had two stripes, in almost the exact the same shade of green running down one side,

Tsukushi remembered her manners,

"How do you do?" she asked politely, using the traditional Japanese greeting, and then added on as an afterthought, "Yes, we do match"

"How do you do? I'm Kenny" he replied, turning the formal greeting somehow totally informal.

The two of them walked down the stairs and he opened the door of the limousine which was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. He closed the door after he stepped inside and the limousine began to move forward.

As they got closer and closer to the mansion where the ball was taking place, Tsukushi started to feel a slight anxiety nudge at the edge of her mind, after all, this was one of her first major public appearances, despite being a powerful heiress, she rarely appeared to the media.

Tsukushi swallowed hard as she saw the number of news vans and cameras, not to mention the paparazzi and the reporters that were crowding around the entrance. As each person got out of their limousine, the hundreds of reporters and such would crowd around the person and flashes of cameras would go off. The person who was being surrounded would then have to put up with it until he or she walked into the mansion as even their many trained bodyguards were unable to stop the crazed paparazzi.

As the limousine slid to a smooth stop outside the mansion, the paparazzi started to swarm around the door.

Kenny offered his arm to Tsukushi, as a escort normally did and she took it. The door of their car opened and cameras started to flash immediately.

It was moments before the paparazzi realized who they were.

"It's the heiress to the Makino Corp!"

"That's the heir to Hsu Enterprises!"

"It that two of the most powerful heirs?"

"Is it true that you two are dating now?'

The questions continued as they walked across the path, and the reporters continued to swarm, despite the efforts of the bodyguards to contain them.

After what seemed like more than just a few minutes, Tsukushi and Kenny stepped into the mansion and the reporters had no choice but to fall back. They were never allowed into the balls.

Inside seemed little better than what they had just been exposed to outside. The other guests had turned to look.

Three young men headed over to them.

Tsukushi recognized two of the three as Nishikado Soujiro and Hanazawa Rui.

As they headed over, more people were beginning to stare.

The three stopped in front of Tsukushi and Kenny, greeted them and then introduced themselves with a confident air.

The third boy was Mimasaka Akira, Tsukushi remembered his name from a business report she had read a while ago. He was also the heir to a powerful company.

As she opened her mouth to respond, a disturbance sounded behind them in the doorway where someone was arguing with the servant who was checking the names of guests.

She turned around to see what was going on as a loud and angry voice came through.

"Don't you know who exactly I am? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?"

Tsukushi could see a man with somehow curly hair yelling and threatening the servant. She heard a sigh behind her from one of the three boys.

In the background, Tsukushi heard the reporters start yelling again.

"THE F4 ARE HERE!"

"At least the whole gang is here now" one of the boys behind me said with another, this time, a slightly amused sigh.

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**A/N: **

**HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed, I can't type your names in this time sorry but I will for the next few chapters. Also, thanks to everyone who added it to their fave or alerts or actually, thanks for reading this xD**

**Idea's are still welcome, and I'm thinking of using the idea's that I have received- thanks**

**Ok, this chapter is extra long but most of my chapters (if past experience serves) will be about 1000 words long and this fanfic will be updated at irregular times, sorry but bear with me k?**

**Reviews please, I STILL want to see if you like (or hate) this fanfic, constructive critisism is welcomed =)**

**AND I WANTS TO KNOW HOW YOU LIKE MY OC, JEI ZUN/KENNY! TELL ME PLEASEEEE~  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally a new chapter~ Enjoy ^^**

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"Oh my--!"

"It's HIM!"

"Tsukasa DOMYOUJI!!!"

"Wasn't he somewhere is China?"

"What made him come here?"

The reporters were in a craze over the arrival of the latest, and probably the most famous and influential guest. Now, every single reporter was speaking and the cameramen taking pictures and filming every moment of the ball, the publicity of which had now just increased by a tenfold.

Tsukushi watched in amusement as the new arrival marched into the room. She had, of course figured out that it was Tsukasa Domyouji. His file seemed to be correct about his bad temper. Although he looked slightly older in life, than the photo, the cold eyes that showed, even in a photo was icy cold as they scanned the room.

Tsukasa's eyes narrowed as they swept over Tsukushi and Kenny, then narrowed more as he saw that they were in company of the three powerful young heirs. He started to walk over to them.

"What are you staring at bitch?" he snapped at a girl who was looking at him. She quickly looked down and apologized, backing away.

He turned around and glared. "That goes for all of you, get lost!" he snapped at the audience, which now included most of the attending guest, ladies in fancy dresses and men in tuxedos and suits, and they all seemed to be watching the unfolding drama.

_I don't care who he is, I'm not marrying this guy. _Tsukushi thought as she watched him walk closer, as he got closer, he glared at her. Tsukushi started back at him with raised eyebrows, not moving at all.

"Didn't you hear me? Get lost you ugly bitch." He snarled at her.

Tsukushi ignored the muffled gasp that came from most of the guests, and she snorted in a very unladylike manner, breaking the silence which had fallen yet again.

"Why should I move for a bastard like you?" she retorted, not being able to stop her words before they came out of her mouth.

Another muffled gasp spread through the room as the two most powerful people in the room glared daggers at each other.

"Hey, calm down there, Tsukasa, do you even know who she is?" another voice interrupted the silence. Mimasaka Akira the "peacekeeper" had decided to intervene.

"I don't give a damn about she-"

"She's Makino Tsukushi" the quiet voice of Hanazawa Rui interrupted.

Tsukasa froze for a moment as the information sunk in, his mouth opened slightly as he realized that he has just called the heir to the only company that had a chance of overthrowing theirs a "ugly bitch". His mother, the witch, would give him hell for such a screw-up.

Kenny suddenly put his arm over Tsukushi's shoulder and they walked away, through the crowd which parted at once for them.

No one seemed to hear, or notice the quiet snap of cameras, or the grinning man, who seemed to be a little less well-dressed than the other, tuck a small black object under his jacket and slip out of the room.

* * *

"Well, we sure did make a scene back there." Tsukushi said with a sigh, raising a demand cup to her lips and sipping the crimson contents. "Thank god the media weren't allowed in for this one, if anyone was filming it, this would turn into something short of a scandal."

Kenny chuckled and nodded, "well, look at it this way, technically, with the force of our two companies combined, crushing the Domyouji Corp should be no problem for us, does that cheer you up a bit? Oh and threatening whoever has the nerve to film this is something we can do as well." He added the last sentence as a second thought, smiling broadly.

It worked, Tsukushi's face lightened as she laughed at his words, "Yep, that I cannot deny." She said in a mock serious tone to him.

* * *

"Well, you really screwed that one up Tsukasa" Akira muttered, shaking his head in disbelief that his friend had managed to turn the party into such a disaster, well as the fact that he probably earned himself the hate of one of the most powerful people alive.

Soujiro snorted "Way to go Tsukasa!" he said sarcastically, and did you know one of us might marry that girl?"

"Shut up you-" Tsukasa snapped, then he spun around to stare at the friend who had just spoken. "WHAT?" he yelled, causing the people to start staring at him again.

"Did you just say that one of us is going to _MARRY_ that _THING_?"

Akira and Soujiro shook their heads at him. "Yes it is true, you would know that if you bothered keeping up with the news" Akira said, sighing again at his friends idiocy, Soujiro then cut in, "Besides, its not nice calling a pretty girl a thing" he said, grinning.

"What? I can call that thing- what pretty? Wha-" Tsukasa spluttered, stumbling over his words in his rage and surprise, it would have been frightening if he had not tried to find Rui, turned around and tripped over his own feet.

Another wave of laughter swept throughout the room, then quickly stifled as Tsukasa got back on his feet and yelled at them.

They all knew it was a bad idea to anger him, the stories they heard about him were more than enough to make anyone keep their distance.

"Oi! Rui! Tell me this isn't true!" Tsukasa shouted, spotting Rui standing slightly away from the two playboys of F4.

Rui looked up with a disinterested look on his face, and nodded silently, a look that said very plainly 'I-am-not-interested-do-not-drag-me-into-this' etched on his face, then returned to looking at something on his cellphone, which was, to him, more interesting than the stupidity of his childhood friend.

Tsukasa glared, then stormed out of the building, pushing over and hitting anyone who was in his way.

The F3 looked at each other, muttered something about how a child has more maturity than the heir to the Domyouji Corp, then followed him out, ignoring the reported who instantly swarmed around them.

* * *

Tsukushi and Kenny watched the group of four, obviously powerful boys leave, and the atmosphere suddenly became less tense. The other guest broke into chatter almost immediately, no doubt discussing what they had just seen.

* * *

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**A/N: I know this chapter took ages coming out but, my life decided to intervene with my writing and it's been pretty hectic these days and I've had no time to write~ Sorry. This chapter may not be as good as it has been rushed, ALOT.**

** Ok, and in case any of you were wondering, and to answer the question asked by Saranghae-Minnie, my OC is not based on any celeb, but drama's I've seen and people I do know in real life have influenced his charcter ^^**

**ANYWAYS OMG I JUST SAW METEORGARDEN1 (yes, finally xD) HuaZeLei 3 **

**Thanks to: H.Y.D3292, Kpopiphile, Saranghae-Minnie, Gasanechi, danella.23, The Main Writer, Starryz1221c, and Magz for refiewing =D**

**Please review, the more reviews I get, the happier I will be, the mroe I will write, so drop me a review, even if it only has 2 words in it XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't like this chapter, I think its kinda boring o.o I know most of you won't like reading about OCs but bear with me ok?  
**

* * *

"And yet, you managed to fail so utterly and completely again. I purposely pulled you out of several meetings, and sent you back to Japan, in order for you to meet the future chairperson of the Makino Corp, instead you insult her, and then you walk out of the building." The chairwoman of the Domyouji Corp was indeed as frightening as the rumors told about her indicated.

"Do you have any idea what you have done Tsukasa?" she spat at her son, glaring coldly at him.

Tsukasa glared back defiantly, "How the hell was I supposed to know who she was?"

"You idiot!" she said, sighing angrily, "I don't care what you do, but you are going to make up the friendship between you and this Tsukushi Makino."

Tsukasa only glared at his mother, meeting her eyes.

"That will be all. You can leave now Tsukasa."

Shaking off the man who attempted to escort him outside by pushing him over, he stomped over to the doors, which he pushed open with a snap, and then slammed loudly behind him.

* * *

Tsukushi laid her violin down next to her flute, and closed the folder full of her music. Thankfully, her father didn't blame her for what had happened earlier at the ball, he had already had one of his men who had been stationed at the ball report back to him.

What was troubling to her though, was the fact that the pressure on her marrying was increased. Now that she had met the young men in question, her mind had become clouded with thoughts and worries.

Kenny was a good companion, he had a good record and was not likely to start up any problems. Tsukushi supposed that they could a normal enough life together. Thinking over the business impact, they would have made a merge with a company with large influence over Taiwan and China, which would be useful as they only had major influence of Japan. A marriage to him would be a good option, both in the business sense and a personal view.

Hanazawa Rui seemed a little cold, but a fairly decent, and mature man, which was more than she could say for a certain other person. His company was slightly smaller, with slightly less influence, but dealt with businesses that the Makino Corp had not yet expanded into. A merge between the two companies could be very well what the corporation needed to expand into further businesses. Tsukushi thought it over, then supposed that the marriage to him would not be bad either.

Nishikado Soujiro. That playboy. She had seen those looks that he exchanged with the women attending. She wondered which on of those nameless women was in bed with him at the moment. She almost spat in disgust. A marriage to him would be like a marriage to Hanazawa in a business sense, except how long her tolerance of him would last was a different matter altogether.

And finally, Domyouji Tsukasa. That arrogant, rude, coldblooded bastard. Sure, a marriage between them would mean most of Japan's economy and trade would b controlled by them, but it would only be a matter of time before they got into a serious fight and divorced. Tsukushi knew that unless he goes through a major personality transplant, they chance that she would agree to marry him currently was zero percent.

Tsukushi sighed, "Most girls my age would be dreaming of the boy they like, or their next date with their boyfriend, yet here I am, considering marriage for business benefits," she muttered ironically to herself.

* * *

"Hsu Jei Zun." The name was said one word at a time, and the voice was quivering in rage.

"You are the heir to a influential and major company. What were you thinking acting like that? Have you got no pride? Or thought for the consequences? I gave you very clear instructions to become acquainted with Tsukushi Makino, which is the only reason why you were at this ball. I did not ask you to act like the two of you are dating. Are you trying to disgrace us?"

Kenny didn't answer, he looked down at the floor, studying it as if there was something immensely interesting on the floor.

The only seemed to anger the speaker more.

"YOU ARE THE NEXT CHAIRMAN! ANSWER ME HSU JEI ZUN!"

Kenny looked up, meeting the enraged eyes.

"Have you ever thought for a moment that maybe, just maybe, that I am not happy here? That I don't want to be the heir?" he said slowly, his eye showing s slight sadness within the controlled fury.

"I didn't choose this path for myself, why do you put everything on me? Maybe I don't want this life, maybe I wouldn't care if you really did disown me"

The other person in the room spat, "What do you plan to do with your life then? You will end up on the streets begging for us to take you back, you failure."

Kenny simply smiled coldly. "I have my own dream to follow, and I would be a fool to allow you to stand in the way."

* * *

Rui sat in his room, sitting in front of his laptop with a serious expression on his face, thinking. He had just received a email from his father, with the details of the girl his father wished for him to be engaged to within a year. He had already met the girl, and already knew quite a bit about her. The girl was the heir of the Maino Corp. Her name was Makino Tsukushi.

* * *

MAKINO HEIR DATING POWERFUL TAIWANESE HEIR, AMD FIGHTING DOMYOUJI HEIR. WILL THIS MEAN AN END TO THE DOMYOUJI REIGN?

Two days after the ball, a headline appeared on the front page of the largest, and most read newspaper in Japan, well as several newspapers and tabloids overseas. Below the headline, a picture of Tsukushi and Tsukasa yelling at each other was printed, followed by a photo of Kenny with his arm around Tsukushi.

The quality of the photo was good, and the angle which the photo was taken at was perfect. There was no doubting who the people in the photos were.

* * *

**Personally, I found this chapter boring, its just thoughts and happenings, but its needed for the story to make sense o.o**

**Thanks to matsujun lover, Saranghae-Minnie, danella.23, BlackRoseFromParadise, AKTIY, animelover88888888, and BlackButterfly00, for reviewing chapter 4, I'm really grateful to you guys =D**

**Saranghae-Minnie: HA~ I really loved your essay of a review, it really cheered me up ^^ thanks**

**PLEASE REVIEW, it impacts alot on whether I bother to continue to post this story on the site ^^ So please use up just a little of your time to review, both constructive critism or just a "good job" sort of thing is welcomed :D **


	6. Chapter 6

**hehe. New chapter. Hope you enjoy. Things will start to get interesting next chapter I believe ^^**

* * *

The news spread like wildfire. It spread so fast it was almost a bit strange, but by the day after the newspapers had been published, more or less of the whole world had already heard about it. gossip about rich young heirs and heiresses were just as interesting to young people as celebrities, and more so to the older generations.

Crowds of reporters swarmed outside Kenny's apartment house, yelling out questions to him as he attempted to cross his doorstep to his waiting car, he was forced to call his backup security to clear the crazed reporters and to install the large gates that he had been planning on installing earlier than the planned date. He was late for the meeting he had to attend.

Tsukushi fared no better, the security measures to keep unwanted visitors out were already in place as her mansion was a permanent residence, but the second she left her grounds, past the huge iron gates, the paparazzi would instantly crowd around, yelling at the black tinted windows of her limousine and snapping photos, following her around. Everywhere she went, photos would be taken and the paparazzi would make something out of it.

Tsukasa shut himself in his mansion, he had not left since the reporters had started to swarm. He refused to go out, leaving his mother, Kaede to clear things up, which she did, even going as far as to threaten the reporters after giving them the single sentence "The Domyouji Corp will not be brought down. I refuse to let it happen." That statement made the front page the next day.

The F3 were under slightly less pressure, but it was widely known that were good friends and supporters of Tsukasa Domyouji, well has prospective husbands for Tsukushi Makino. Fortunately, the press was not as interested in them as the three key people in this scandal, so it was easier for them to escape the reporters.

* * *

Tsukushi slammed the newspaper down on her desk. The reporters were really going too far and assuming too much, the latest headline was eye-catching but the content was laughable. After a conference she had attended, she had felt like staying out for a while, after shaking off most of the paparazzi that was following her around, she had stopped by at a café for a coffee. Then the next day, on the front page was a picture of her leaving the café. According to the media, the café was owned by Kenny's business, SHINE. Of course, that meant that Tsukushi had to be exchanging messages with Kenny at this café, or meeting him there.

Hoping her mobile wasn't bugged, and there was no way it could be after passing many security inpections every day, she picked it up and scrolled down her contacts.

"Hello?"

"Kenny?" Tsukushi had dialed his private mobile number.

"Tsukushi! Why, hello, what do I owe the pleasure of?" Kenny's voice, bright as ever came from the phone.

Tsukushi gulped, then opened her mouth "We have to hold a press conference."

She took a breath, then continued, "You know what the media are like, you've seen the newspapers, the media are practically in a riot. A press conference is the only possible way of solving this."

Tsukushi waited for his reaction to her plan, she knew that he needed to agree to her plan. The press conference would never work if only she turned up to it.

"You're right," he said, "the sooner this takes place, the better."

The two young people compared their schedules and discovered that they both had a free slot on the following Tuesday.

Tsukushi walked over to the landline in her room and called for the conference to be arranged.

"It's done, just make sure you turn up" Tsukushi said into her mobile, then laughed weakly "Isn't it good to know that this mess might be cleared up in a few days?"

"It's good, I'll see you on Tuesday then. Bye, take care"

"You too, bye"

Tsukushi pressed the end button on the phone, relief flooding through her, the scandal could be cleared up in a few days, but the scar left behind by it will still remain for some time yet.

* * *

"Are you sure its alright just to go to her house?"

"Yeah, why not? Its not like we're going for business reasons or being those pesky reporters"

"What do you think eh Rui?"

"Whatever, don't care, why am I even going?"

The F3 were in a limousine, their faces hidden from the reporters behind black tinted windows, they were also outside of the Makino Mansion.

As the limousine stopped in front of the closed gates, the paparazzi started to crowd around the car, trying to see inside. Their driver opened his window and spoke into the intercom, and after about a minute, a security team appeared as the gates slowly opened. The security held the reporters back as the limousine drove slowly in.

Sojiro grinned as he practically strolled past the security guards at the massive steel gates of one of the most protected buildings in the county, the Makino Mansion. Akira walked next to Sojiro, nodding at the security, then gave their names to the man who had come down to meet them.

The two young men then looked behind their shoulders at their companion, another member of the F4 had come with them. Rui trailed behind them, looking extremely bored and reading a book which he had somehow pulled out of nowhere.

"Miss Tsukushi will be out to see you in a few minutes. I'm afraid she is in the middle of a most important call." The butler said as he stopped in front of the F3.

"Please allow me to escort you to a sitting room where you will be more comfortable." He finished with a slight bow, then turned around and started to walk.

The F3 followed him silently through the large and spacious hallways, which was decorated with the occasional statue or vase.

* * *

Tsukushi sighed as she put the phone back down on its stand. Right after arranging a meeting with the chairman of a recording company, she had to meet a few boys from the apparently famed "F4" in time which she could be resting or doing something useful. Although the term "young men" would be more accurate to describe the F4, Tsukushi preferred to think of them as boys because of the immature way they acted, after all, "boys" would be a more fitting term for a group of power loving immature young men.

Hoping that the members of the F4 who were sitting in her small sitting room did not include Tsukasa Domyouji or Sojiro Nishikado, she made her way to one of the smallest sitting rooms in the house, which was the room that she most often used for friends and other of her more personal matters.

As Tsukushi walked in, she almost groaned aloud at the scene that met her eyes. She could see that the playboy had already made himself very much at home, and had already started flirting with the young female servant who had come to serve them. She made a note not to use female servants if they ever can over again. Sojiro Nishikado was also accompanied by Akira Mimasaka, the heir of a large trading company. She knew that the rumor that he was powerful in underground crime and mafia was almost fact. It was also a fact that he was a playboy as well.

Wondering what the two playboys of the F4 wanted her for, she inclined her head to them slightly. After they did the same, she opened her mouth to talk.

"Mr. Mimasaka, Mr. Nishikado, how may I help you?" She asked politely. She had a lot of experience in being polite.

"No need to be so formal, this isn't supposed to be a business meeting or anything like that," Sojiro started off, "I'm Sojiro, call me that, and he's Akira."

Tsukushi nodded, keeping her face expressionless. "Then may I inquire as to why you are here then?"

Sojiro laughed and Akira flashed a charming smile in her direction as he said "This is a purely social visit. I myself would like to know you better as we did not get a chance to at the ball"

Sojiro snorted, "Yes, as our most charming leader decided that the party wasn't good enough for him" he added on to the statement sarcastically.

Tsukushi raised her eyebrows slightly. The two playboys in front of her where a good example of people who had a bit too much time on their hands, and had, unlike herself, obviously had not taken on the responsibilities of the heir to their various companies.

Taking the chance to get to know the F4 better, she forced out a smile.

"I've heard quite a but about the F4, but I'm curious as to what you are actually like?" she asked.

Sojiro leapt to answer, "Well, as you know, there's me, Akira, Rui and Tsukasa. Akira is the peacekeeper, Rui the silent and weird one, and Tsukasa the bad-tempered, not to mention idiotic leader." He paused, and seemed to consider what he was going to say next. "We aren't exactly what most people think we are" he said slowly, "we aren't just together for business, or for convenience, we are friends, real friends."

Tsukushi thought about what he had just said for a few moments, digesting what he had said and saving it in her head for future use.

"That was most interesting." She said, "Thank you. And I believe you want to know about me?" she asked in return.

Sojiro nodded, smiled enchantingly at her, then gestured for her to continue.

"There isn't much to me actually, I was at a private school for most of my education, then I studied abroad in America, Korean, Taiwan, China, and England for quite a while to learn their language and culture before returning to Japan where I received private tutoring."

Attempting to start a less formal conversation, Akira asked about her hobbies and interests. The conversation carried on from there, each person not holding too much about themselves, but not giving away too much either.

After about an hour, both Sojiro's and Akira's phone rang at the same time. As they looked at the screen, they sighed in unison.

"The great master Domyouji calls" Sojiro muttered, "we better get going:

The two young men stood up, nodded to Tsukushi again, "It was a pleasure talking to you, we will let ourselves out. Thank you"

* * *

After they had left, Tsukushi let out a sigh, it had been more exhausting work than she had thought, talking to two young men around her age. Now that she had talked to the two playboys of the F4, she had to admit that they weren't as bad as she had assumed, and, setting their playboy tactics and actions aside, quite decent people.

As she knew that she had the rest of the afternoon free, which was quite unusual, Tsukushi decided to spend some time in the gardens, which also happened to be her favorite part of the estate.

As Tsukushi headed out to the gardens, she called a servant to bring her violin and her music out to her usual place in the gardens. Nearing her usual place though, she saw something very different. The single bench, on slightly raised wooden deck, with the white pointed roof was exactly the same, but Tsukushi saw that there was a person lying on the bench apparently sleeping.

Drawing nearer and nearer, Tsukushi wondered who the person could be. He couldn't be a servant, or just anybody as the security was extremely tight. Standing on the deck with him, she could finally see the handsome face of a sleeping young man with golden bleached hair.

* * *

**A/N: ****Well, As you must have realized, I'm back ^^**

**Thank you so much for your support, reviews and everything! I luv you guys~**

**Please review and tell me what you think~ (is it just me, or have a developed a habit of ranting on and making stuff boring?)**

**I need to know how many people are still reading it and would love to hear feedback ^.^**

**Schools started for me so you know what that means, slow updates D:**

**And the fact that I've become addicted to "Down With Love" (Taiwanese drama xD) and watching it too much doesn't seem to help either….**

**And Alice in Wonderland was just a pure WIN~!**

**So, thank you, please review, and be patient with me/bear with me please~ **


	7. Chapter 7

Wondering who would dare use her private part of the gardens without her explicit permission, much less sleep in it, Tsukushi drew nearer and nearer to the sleeping boy, as his face came into view, she realized that she had seen his face before, as she was wondering where she might have seen him, the boy in question stirred slightly in his sleep then woke up. As he sat up and rubbed his eyes before opening them, Tsukushi suddenly remembered where she had seen his face, and realized that the heir to the Hanazawa Enterprises, Hanazawa Rui, the slight "strange" F4 member had just been sleeping in her garden.

Rui rubbed his eyes and wondered what had happened, he supposed he had fallen asleep while waiting for Akira and Sojiro. As he looked up from his resting place, neither of his playboy friends were in sight and that the person that they had come to see was standing in front of him. He briefly wondered what why she was doing in the gardens when Akira and Sojiro were supposed to be meeting with her.

"Mr Hanazawa?" Tsukushi started off uncertainly as if unsure as to whom she was speaking to. "Why are you here? Mr Akira and Mr Sojiro just left"

Rui looked back at Tsukushi with a completely expressionless face.

"So that's why they aren't with you…" he said, then yawned and looked around at his surroundings. "I like your gardens" he sad at random

Tsukushi blinked, not expecting that very out of the blue comment, "Um, thank you, they are my favorite part of our estate, I come here often to relax and think"

Rui appeared to think her reply over a few times before he replied, "I hear fest air is helps the thinking" He said.

After a few more minutes in which Tsukushi attempted to make conversation, she had no idea what to make of Rui's strange personality and understood fully why he was described as rather strange.

* * *

Reaching their waiting car, Akira stopped in his tracks as the door was opened, revealing a shiny new mobile phone on the seat.

"Crap. We forgot about Rui" he said.

"That guy's so quiet we don't even notice him sometimes"

"Well, it was him who said to was too stuffy inside'

"Knowing him, he's out there somewhere, asleep no doubt"

"Tsukasa's gonna have to wait for a while then"

The two young men sighed in unison and started to head back to the mansion.

As they reached the front doors, they were informed that Rui had been taken out to the gardens where he requested to be alone for a while.

* * *

In the gardens, the arrival of Tsukushi's violin had broken most of the ice and awkwardness between Tsukushi and Rui.

They talked about music, and Rui's voice seemed to actually become slightly more enthusiastic as he spoke, and had slightly more interest than his usual uninterested and bored tone. As the two talked, they found a piece of music that was loved by both Tsukushi and Rui. As they talked about it, Tsukushi called back to the mansion asked for someone to bring her violin out to her.

As they waited for the violin, they started to ask about each other, and talking about themselves more. They had practically become friends in that short time.

Sojiro and Akira had located where they were. As they saw the two talking, Sojiro quickly dragged Akira behind some bushes.

The F2 watched in amazement as Rui talked. The same thought was running through their heads.

Neither of them was aware that Rui could talk so much at once, or talk with so much enthusiasm.

They watched as the spare violin arrived and the violin duet started.

Sojiro poked Akira and leaned over to whisper something into his ear, Akira nodded and they both chuckled evilly.

Pulling out his mobile phone, Akira set it to video and started to film.

Sojiro snuck up behind the violin playing pair, who happened to be so immersed in the music they had no idea of their surroundings. He quickly pushed Rui slightly to put him off balance.

Off balance enough for him to stumble into Tsukushi.

Or rather, to be very specific, for him to stumble into Tsukushi then fall on top of her as the two fell over.

Whether it was unfortunate or not, the fact remained that neither Sojiro nor Akira expected this reaction. On the sidelines, Akira continued filming, trying to stop himself from shaking with laughter as he saw the expressions on the faces of Sojiro, Tsukushi, and Rui. He zoomed in on their faces and made sure he had good footage of this maybe once in a lifetime event.

One of the most unexpected reactions possible happened. Rui and Tsukushi, from their very awkward position on the ground, started to laugh. The silent and always bored Rui was laughing when he had been push onto a girl he barely knew. The most powerful teenaged girl, and probably the richest as well was laughing at the fact that a heir of a company was lying on top of her and that they were both on the ground of her garden. Sojiro concluded that they had both gone insane as the "holy-shit-they-are-going-to-kill-me-for-sure-this-time-but-it-was-worth-it" expression started to fade off his face.

After a very short while of this insanity, Akira stepped forward from his hiding place and coughed slightly. Three paired of eyes turned towards him. He smiled charmingly.

"I've got this all on film you know?"

* * *

Returning to her room after dinner, which she ate alone, Tsukushi returned to her room and started to think about her day. The F3 that she had met was not as bad as the had originally already thought, yes, the two playboys were slightly immature for their age and status, but was it possible that their leader, Tsukasa Domyoji was also not as bad as her seemed?

Her thoughts wondered over what she had found out about the F4, she thought that they seemed genuine, unlike some of the other heirs and rich teenagers around her age, but then again, the F3 had no reason to want to use her, they were all as powerful and rich as she was.

Three words then suddenly floated to her mind.

"_We are friends." _

Tsukushi knew that she had not had a true friend in many years, not one that she was close to and could confide in. When she realized just how foolish she was for pushing them away from her for their own safety when she become powerful, it was already too late. She remembered the times when she was still leading a normal life, a commoner's life. Now only did Tsukushi realized that she needed to have friends to stand by her.

Reaching for her cellphone, Tsukushi scrolled down her contacts list, until she reached one contact that stood out from the rest. It wasn't a business contact, with the full name of the contact, the business, his or her status, and any other useful information. The contact that Tsukushi was looking at was a single name and a number. Tsukushi hesitated slightly then pushed the call button.

"Hello?" A voice came over the phone. A voice that Tsukushi had not heard for years, but was still so familiar to her.

"Is anyone there?'

Tsukushi took a deep breathe, then opened her mouth to speak.

"Yuki, its me" she said.

There was a silence.

"Tsukushi? Is that you?" Yuki's voice was unsure and slightly shaky.

"Yes."

The two teenagers talked. They talked for such a long time, it was almost as if they had kept well in touch over the years.

Almost, but not quite.

A few hours later, Tsukushi found herself trying to find a gap in her timetable to attend a reunion which she had just been invited to.

* * *

The week continued to pass, and the arrangements for the upcoming press conference were being rearrange, checked over, then finally cleared up. Tsukushi and Kenny talked for some time each day to discuss what they were going to say, it wouldn't help for them to have different stories, however small. The conference was going to be broadcast live on three different channels within the country, and also would be broadcasted in fourteen other countries beside. They was honestly no room for error, and neither side could afford to make another mistake.

The day before the all-important press conference, Tsukushi noticed that her personal security and bodyguards had been tripled. It was extremely unusual as normal number of security was not small. She demanded to know the reason behind the extra security. Every member of the security around her replied with a "My apologies lady, I am not permitted to say." No amount of persuasion, ordering, and even bribing would make them speak, and the fact that even the butler and the maids appeared to know what Tsukushi did not, and wanted to know.

Tsukushi, thoroughly annoyed at her lack of answers, marched straight to the office the head of security. Somehow forgetting her manners for a second, pushed open the door, and walked inside the office without a second thought.

"What is going on here?" she demanded to the man who was calming shifting through files at the single desk somewhere behind the door. The desk was in it's unusual position as so intruders would have a harder time getting to the people inside.

"Ah, Miss Tsukushi, I wondered how long it would be before you would be coming here" The man said, looking up at Tsukushi.

The head of security was a tall, serious man in his mid to late thirties who took his job very seriously, and did it exceptionally well. Tsukushi recalled his name was Jin, or at least it was the name he went by.

"If you are referring to your increase in security, then I'm afraid to inform you that there has been a threat to your personal safety.

Tsukushi narrowed her eyes. "I'm listening" she said.

Jin picked up a large envelope off his desk and handed it to Tsukushi saying "This arrived on the front doorstep this morning"

Noticing that her name was writing on the front of the envelope, Tsukushi took it silently, then opened it to see that there were actually several pieces of paper inside. Taking out the largest piece, she unfolded it and looked at it silently, before raising her eyebrows.

"Is this what you meant?" She asked.

On the piece of paper, written in crimson ink, which looked shockingly like blood, were the words:

_It Only Takes a Moment to Fall and Less for Death.

* * *

_

**A/N:** Well, I thought this chapter, well, the end of this chapter wasnt written very well, I've been under a lot of stress lately, and after failing a science test, I've just gotten worse. Hm, I'm quite glad to have gotten this chapter out of the way, this is where the plot actually starts, and don't worry, its not what you think, it's not going to be THAT cliche ;)

_Hm, if anyone has been confused by the way I'm portraying the characters, I thought I'd just say that whenever I think of Rui, I think of Kim Hyun Joong, although Vic Zhou and Oguri Shun do have their moments, I'm a huge fan of all three actors and think all of them did their part very well ;) When i think of Tsukasa, I instantly make the Tsukasa to Jerry Yan connection xD I'm pretty much a huge fan of the Taiwan F4 now after hearing their songs and watching Down With Love and Autumns Concerto so don't be surprised if the characters start to sound like the Taiwan F4 . _

**Thanks to all the people who have reviewed and supported me, it's the only thing that has kept me writing this, and please continue to review ^^ **


	8. Chapter 8

Tsukushi knew that such things happened, she had received one or two letters in the past but they had amounted to nothing at all. She raised her eyebrows at Jin, who must be very well aware of that fact. Jin, in turn, motioned silently to her to look at the other contents of the envelope.

Tsukushi's eyes widened as she realized she was looking at multiple photos of herself. There were twenty-four of them, one for each hour of the day. She quickly studied the photos carefully, looking at the quality and any signs that the photos were not what they seemed to say.

"Now you understand our actions, do you not? All these photos before you were taken very well, perfect quality that a security camera would not be able to achieve. The photo's were not taken with a camera then zoomed in and the quality adjusted with a computer. This person was quite close to you."

Tsukushi nodded. That much she had figured out even as he was speaking. Her mind was already processing that information and thinking of solutions and who the culprit could be. As she started to place the photos and the note back inside the envelope, Jin raised his hands slightly, gesturing for her to stop.

"Look inside the envelope again" He said.

Peering inside the envelope again, Tsukushi saw that written inside the envelope were words. They were in the sane color and font as the note, but as they were printed on the inside of the front of the envelope, they were rather difficult to read.

As Tsukushi simply couldn't be bothered to look inside the envelope and try to read it as it was, she held the entire envelope to the light and let the strong beams shine through the paper. The words showed through.

"TODAY IT STARTS"

* * *

Chaotic would not even begin to describe the situation before the press conference. Due to the newfound security threat, the normal security had been tripled and on top of that, the extra security that was present for public appearances was also present. Them, along with the all the staff, managers, and reporters, were making last minute arrangements. Tsukushi guessed that in total, there had to be more than a hundred people there.

When Tsukushi finally had a moment to herself, she pulled out her cellphone and checked it for any messages. In her inbox was a new voice message. She pressed the play button and held the phone up to her ear.

_Yo! It's Kenny here! The big day has finally arrived? I don't really know what to say right now, but let's hope for success! It better work, I mean, I stayed up all night just revising my lines and looking through those tips you gave me! Well, I gotta go, good luck to us both and I'll see you later!_

Tsukushi smiled as she listened to the message. That young man was really like a child on the inside. Hearing someone else call for her, she quickly put her phone away before walking over to them.

* * *

About three hours later, cameras started to flash from the moment Tsukushi stepped out of her limousine, in fact, they started to flash from the moment the limousine could be seen. As nearly all the reporters crowed around Tsukushi, she concluded that she must be the first to arrive. Her father, the Chairman, Kento Makino, had decided to come along and supported her as well. Tsukushi checked her watch, she was indeed a few minutes early.

"Miss Tsukushi! Over here! Would you care to answer a few questions please?"

"Why did you not arrive with your father? Did you argue over something?"

"Is it true that the two of you at odds over your relationship with the heir to SHINE?"

"What exactly is your relationship with the F4?"

Questions were bring shouted non-stop at Tsukushi as the reporters attempted to close in on her, only to be thwarted by her personal security. Tsukushi made her way up onto the small raised platform and sat down on one of the three chairs on it.

She smiled calmly at the reporters and said "Could I ask you to be calm for now? The questions will be answered in a few minutes when the press conference officially begins."

Her words seemed to work, the reported quieted down after she spoke, but as the time of the official start drew closer and closer and neither Kenny nor the chairman had arrived, the reporters began to mutter among themselves. About a minute before the press conference was due to start, the chairperson of the Makino Corp, Kento Makino arrived. He made his way to the stage and sat himself in the seat next to his daughter after avoiding the questions of the press. Tsukushi began to worry. Kenny still had not arrived with less than a minute to go.

Five minutes later, Kento Makino nodded at his daughter, and Tsukushi stood up to address the press. All the attention was suddenly drawn to her within seconds.

"Mr. Hsu of SHINE has been delayed due to a unforeseen circumstance. We will start the conference now. I apologize for the delay."

Tsukushi was immediately attacked with questions, everything from the reason why Kenny was late, which she had no idea, to whether it was true that she had dinner with Tsukasa Domyoji last week, which, of course, she wouldn't do even if you paid her to. Tsukushi had to answer the questions in a probable and innocent way as so they couldn't be misinterpreted.

* * *

Half an hour later, the press conference was already half over, as it was only scheduled to go for half an hour, and the reporters had seemed to accept the fact the Kenny would not turn up. As a bonus, they did not seem to be making too much of it.

Halfway through answering a question, Tsukushi stopped and looked around. She had heard shouts and yells of excitement, and they were getting louder.

Wondering whether Kenny was finally making a appearance she looked over to the door. Tsukushi felt her own eyes widen in shock.

"Oh crap" She muttered to herself.

It was not good news the Tsukasa Domyoji had just walked in through the door. If he was here just to get back at Tsukushi, she would probably murder him after the reporters left.

A few seconds later, the shouting got louder, if that was even possible.

Rui had just followed his friend into the room and was now calmly assessing the situation in the room. He frowned.

"Why are you here? Mr. Domyoji? Mr. Hanazawa?" Tsukushi said politely.

"I came here to tell you something" Tsukasa replied, obviously not happy about something, probably how she reacted to them, "Come with me for a moment" he said, as arrogant as ever.

Tsukushi thought of the consequences of going with him, well as staying where she was. They were both quite neagetive.

"I'm sorry Mr. Domyoji, I'm quite busy as you can see, maybe later?"

Tsukasa's frown deepened even more. "I'm doing you a favor by coming here Miss Makino" he said, "If you want me to spit it out here for everyone to hear, then fine" he finished, now angry.

Tsukushi raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what he was trying to do. "Yes?" she said.

Rui looked slightly alarmed, and tried to signal Tsukushi without attracting too much attention.

Tsukasa meanwhile was getting angrier and angrier.

"If you really want me to say it here, your precious friend, the one who's supposed to be sitting next to you, hopped on a plane back to Taiwan an hour ago" he spat out, very loudly.

There was a silence in the room for a long moment, then chaos erupted. Tsukushi and the F2 were suddenly being attacked by reporters.

* * *

**A/N: Hm.... what has happened? Was Tsukasa really trying to get Tsukushi back, or was he telling the truth? Is there a reason why Kenny didn't turn up, or is he actually a traitor? Hehe, I'll leave it to your imaginations until the next chapter..... **

**Gah. This was just another chapter to move the story alone. I'm planning cute Tsukushi and Rui/Tsukasa moments now?**

**Thanks to the following: Spoutnik, Saranghae-Minnie, BlackRoseFromParadise and the unnamed reviewer who reviewed chapter 7 ^^ This chapter probably couldn't have been written without those reviews~**

**Saranghae-Minnie: **LOL I love your reviews, they make me laugh, and laughing is good for the health xD I glad you like this story and I don't dissapoint ^^

**Please review, whether it be constructive critisism or anything else, I don't bite xD**


	9. Chapter 9

"is it true?"

"Did you know of this matter Miss Tsukushi?"

"Why has he gone back?"

"Are the two of you fighting?"

"Mr Tsukasa, why are you here? Are you in a current relationship with Miss Tsukushi?"

Tsukushi waited siliently for the repoters to quieten down, it normally worked. Tsukasa seemed to do be doing the same, but had a somewhat smug look on his facem while Rui on the other hand just ignored everyone, the 'i-am-not-interested' expression on his face once again.

As the silence from the reporters three young heirs stretched on, the shouts from the reporters was not increased, but the fabrications were getting wilder by the moment. They had fabricated to the point where it was getting dangerous.

As Tsukushi opened her mouth to silence them, a voice spoke before hers, or rather, two voices.

『That is enough.』

Both the Chairman Makin and Rui seemed to had spoken the exact same words at the exact same time.

At the sounds of their voices, which, apart from the fact that they had spoken together, were powerful and commanding, the reporters fell silent.

"The press conference has officially ended now. my daughter and I will now take our leave." Kento Makino finished, completely ignoring what Rui, the heir to Hanazawa Enterprises just did.

As both the chairman and heir to the Makino Corp. decended the stairs of the stage, cameras began to flash again.

Walking past Tsukasa and Rui, Kento Makino glanced, or to be more accurate, glared at the two, then jerked his head slightly to indicate they were to come with him.

The four of them stepped into the limosene, the doors closed, and the car started to move.

* * *

Inside the Makino Mansion, the F2, along with the CEO of the Makino Corp. and Tsukushi sat in icy silence.

『So.』Tsukushi said, making the statement into a question. She then looked at Tsukasa for a reply.

Tsukasa snorted most impolitely.

『My daughter just asked you a question, you are expected to give a reply young Domyoji』 Kento Makino stated ina very displeased tone.

Rui coughed slightly. All eyes turned to him.

『I was checking some statistics and flight details today, as part of my project for my upcoming airlines. I saw Mr Hsu's name on the passneger list. As I remember your daughter, Miss Tsukushi telling me that she and Mr Hsu would be in a press conference today, I felt that something wasn't right, so I called Tsukasa asking him to make sure that it was really the same Mr Jei Zun Hsu, as had more knowledge about this matter as he owns the airline』

Kento looked at Rui, still not satisfied.

『That is all very well, but that does not explain in the least why and what you did afterwards.』

『That was-』 Tsuksa started angrily, only to be silence by a double glare from Tsukushi and Rui.

It was never a good idea to argue with someone more powerful then you in such a tone. That was one of the first lessons they had learnt, one that Tsukasa had obviously missed.

Kento Makin stood up.

『I have a meeting. I do not have anymore time to spare here』 he said, 『When I come back in about three hours time, I expect a full explainaton.』

He then walked out of the room, leaivng the three teenagers sitting in silence once more.

* * *

A few minutes later, Tsukushi's cellphone started to ring. Without even bothering to check the caller, which rarely happened, he declined the called. Then it rang, again and again.

Tsukushi answered the call, wondering who would be so persistant.

『Hello?』

『Tsukushi. It's me.』A familiar voice said.

『Kenny?』

At that moment, Tsukushi did not know how to respond.

At the sound of his name, Tsukushi heard a relieved sigh on the other end of the line. Tsukasa on the other hand, jumped up from his seat, looking very angry.

Striding over to where Tsukushi was standing with the phone, in a few steps, he snatched the phone off her.

『Where the hell have you been you bastard?』 He started yo yell into the small cellphone.

Tsukushi slapped him straight across the face.

Tsukasa stumbled back, and as he did so, Tsukushi grabbed her phone back.

In shock, Tsukasa stuttered, rendered speechless while Rui was almost gaping open mouthed. No one had every treated Tsukasa Domyoji in such a way.

Raising the phone back to her ear, Tsukushi began to speak again.

『Kenny?』

『Tsukushi. Listen to me.』

『Where are you?』

『I don't know.』Kenny said, with a slight air of contolled despair.

『What?』 Tsukushi said, not understanding.

『Tsukushi, listen, you have to be careful.』

『Yes, I know....What?』

『All I know is that I'm a hospital. I don't know where or why. I just woke up here and I keep hearing the people around me say your name. Someone's after you.』

Tsukushi's eyes widened. There was no trace of a lie in his voice. As she opened her mouth to ask for more details, there was a yell on the other side of her cellphone, then the line went dead.

* * *

About two minutes later, a maid ran into the room, almost screaming with hysteria.

She was holding something in her hands. She placed it infront of Tsukushi with trembling hands then ran out of the room.

Tsukushi saw that it was a middle sized cloth package.

There were dark red stains on it that look suspiciously like blood.

Tsukushi slowly stretched out her hand to open to package, There couldn't possibly be anything dangerous in there, it wouldn't have made it inside the room withour her knowing. Alarm were set to go off if it detected anything potentially dangerous.

As Tsukushi lifted the cloth she gasped and took a step backwards.

As Tsukasa and Rui stepped forward to see, Tsukasa's mouth opened slightly, and he looked a but sick. Even Rui's eyes widened and he looked shaken.

* * *

Inside the package was a dead snake impaled by a cross. The blood of the snake, still a briht red which indicated it was still fresh, was smeared everywhere. In the middle of the bloody package was a single picture. It was taken at the ball. Although it was bloodstained like everything else, the faces in the photo were easily regonizable. Tsukushi saw herself, Kenny, and the F4 amoungst the blood.

Tsukushi has also remembered that the first design for the Makino Corporation logo was a snake wrapped around a cross.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to: Saranghae-Minnie, Fatcake, Spoutnik, BlackButterfly00, BlackRoseFromParadise, AKTAIY for reviewing the last chapter, I hope I didn't disappoint ~**

**Saranghae-Minnie: **AHAHA! Loved that xD OMG oyster pancakes! I love those XP Your imagination is very interesting I have to say.... :D

**THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE REGARDING THE PAIRING THIS STORY WILL BE. PLEASE HELP ME AND TAKE THE POLL XD**

From now on, if I seem to have died, please visit my profile as I might have posted something there, or you add me on skype, or deviantart :D

Oh and btw, please support my 2 deviant groups, #SS501-TripleS and #Taiwanese-Dramas

Links for everything can be found on my profile :D


	10. Chapter 10

The word fear was not a word that usually appeared in the vocabulary of powerful young heirs who had everything they wanted, but fear was a word that would describe what Tsukushi was experiencing very well

Never before had a threat so serious happened, packages like this would never make it past security. The only possible way for it to be sneaked inside would quite possibly be an inside man. The thought flew past Tsukushi's mind, but her head was completely clouded.

Rui and Tsukasa watched, both shocked, and walked over to Tsukushi, unsure of what to do.

Rui placed his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to him, lightly comforting her, while Tsukasa raised his hand and let it hover over Tsukushi's hair, wondering if he would get hit if he placed it there. Deciding to not care if he got hit again, Tsukasa put his hand on her head, patting and stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her.

A few minutes later, Tsukushi managed to gain enough composure to call security. About a minute or so after, when Jin walked inside, he only saw the three young adults standing next to the door in a line, refusing to look back at the bloody mess of a package behind them.

Jin himself felt his eyes widen for a split second before assessing the situations with a professional air, as if he had done this many times, although in reality, he had only read about situations like this.

"How the package got into this house. I want to know every possible way and I want the full report with sources in front of me, and process everyone who has been around or in this house since the last scan of the house. Check all the security cameras and report anything even a bit out of place, the report will be on my desk as soon as possible. This is a serious offense."

The assistant that was standing next to Jin nodded briskly then walked out of the room, his cellphone already at his ear.

As Jin stepped towards the three young adults, he greeted them politely, with the respect due to ones in a higher rank than himself, then proceeded to question them. Tsukushi had very little to say, as she didn't notice anything before the maid came running in screaming, and apart from their own ideas on how this situation may have occurred, neither Tsukushi, no Tsukasa and Rui could say much to help the investigation along.

A few hours later, Tsukushi found herself lying on her bed, feeling amazingly calm compared to the panic she had expected to feel because of what had happened. Much of this calmness was probably related to Yuki, who Tsukushi was having and text conversation with. She just needed a distraction and Yuki seemed to know that, as she was attempting to persuade Tsukushi to go on a double date with her and her boyfriend. As Tsukushi started to protest she had no boyfriend to go with anyway, a smile lit up her face.

F4 sat in the middle of an extremely plain room, around a simple wooden table. The table was exactly square, one side for each member. They were equals in this room, equals and friends. Apart the four, few people even knew about the existence, much less knew where this room was located so it was a extremely safe bet that they would not be disturbed.

The room had no real name, but it was only used by the F4 to meet together when something serious occurred, The last time the room was occupied was more than a year ago when Shizuka was leaving for France again and Sojiro thought that Rui was depressed to the point where he was almost suicidal, which actually was a bit exaggerated, but not much off the mark.

Tsukasa just flipped a few photos on the table, while Akira and Sojiro examined them carefully from every angle. Rui already had seen them, so he stayed back slightly, letting the other two have a better look..

"This is bad." Sojiro stated.

"Of course it is, or I wouldn't have told you guys to come here" Tsukasa snapped back at him. He seemed to be in a worse mood than usual.

"It's real. Can you look into it Akira? It looks like it originates from underground, or either Tsukasa or me would have already found out about it" Rui said, ignoring Tsukasa.

Akira nodded, taking a photo and putting it in his pocket.

"So, are we all targets? Or is this just aimed at the Makino heiress?" He wondered aloud to himself.

A day later, Jin sat in his office. His sources had come up with a list of who could have sent it, and at the top of the list was a very unpleasant name. He didn't want to believe it. He wanted it to be fake, but all the evidence pointed it that way. Although there were other possibilities, he could almost laugh at them. He called Tsukushi's room, and she picked up. He asked her to come over to his office as he had found a extremely likely culprit behind the cross and snake incident.

As Tsukushi walked into the office some ten or so minutes later, he took a deep breath.

"Prepare yourself, this isn't going to be pleasant." He said.

Tsukushi nodded, "Who is it? Tell me."

At the same time, Akira was looking outside in the night sky. Although he had no idea, he had come to the same conclusion as Jin based on the information that his men had provided him with. He called Rui, not wanting to tell Tsukasa until he was sure as he knew Tsukasa would overreact.

Rui picked up, and greeted him sleepily.

"Rui, I think I've found out who the person we're dealing with is."

"Really? So fast?" he replied, the sleepiness in his tone going away at once.

Both Akira and Jin replied with one word.

"SHINE"

A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've been having too much pressure from school, plus, I was working on my Down With Love oneshot xD

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, PLEASE REVIEW ^^

Thanks to loveboysoverflowers, Aktaiy, Saranghae-Minnie, Sharx., Spoutnik, KagomeBadass17, ZP8892, and BlackButterfly00 for reviewing since I last updated ^^

Saranghae-Minnie: Why don't you make a account then? ^^ hehe, anyways... oyster pancakes ftw! You're too smart~~~ You picked everything out xD

IMPORTANT: I'm not sure whether I'm going to be able to continue this story. I'm under a lot of pressure from school and have other projects. I really want to but we'll just have to see hwo things work out won't we?

brw~ Only 10 people have taken the poll xD I'm sure more than 10 people read this story so can you please take it so I know moer clearly what to do?


	11. Chapter 11

_**Recap**: Tsukushi is a rich heiress, and she has met the F4 well as another young man, Kenny, the heir of a large Taiwanese company. They are all possible candidate husbands for her. She seems to get on quite well with Kenny, and having a rocky start with the F4, but they eventually become friendly, her being friends with Rui first. When rumours about herself and Kenny start up, they organize a press conference, which Tsukasa crashed, yelling that Kenny is on a plane back to Taiwan. Afterwards Tsukushi and the entire F4 seem to be threatened through a bloody message which is traced back to SHINE, Kenny's company._

* * *

"Shine?"

At first, Tsukushi thought that he was referring to a mafia group a individual members by codename, but then she realized that it simply couldn't be right. Jin wouldn't have just have told her a name without supplying her with the background information beforehand, else she would jump to conclusions. The only other option left was SHINE, the Taiwanese company that was one of the very few companies in the world that could rival theirs, the others being the Domyouji Corp, and three European companies that couldn't possibly affect them.

It was a situation that no one in the business world wanted to be left with. A stalemate is what companies were normally in, until one decides to openly challenge another, which is what appeared to have just happened.

"We would inform your father, and then await orders from him, but as you know, he is in London, expanding the business, and therefore, we came to ask you." Jin stated, rather expressionlessly, then more or less summed everything up in roughly two sentences.

Tsukushi walked back to her room in silence, not even bothering to turn on her iPod, which was unusual, as music was one thing that would allow her to think better. If SHINE was really behind it, then so was Kenny ... ? Was his friendship only a act?

_He's my friend isn't he? But if he's really behind this then what can I do, or maybe he doesn't know about it... he's not in charge of SHINE yet is he? He's only the heir as of now..._

Sitting down on her bed, Tsukushi's mind was in turmoil, thinking and rethinking, processing every little scrap of material that she possessed. Obviously they were being threatened, but nothing made sense. SHINE was one of the most powerful companies in the world, but to target the heirs of five other companies, two of which were equally as powerful with the other three not far behind, was just pure madness.

She went through the options in her mind of what could happen, her father had given her quite a bit of free rein for this, as was expected, as she was coming to the point where she had to be learning how to control the company, her age and status dictated it to be so. Unless she was going to make a very serious screw-up, she suspected her father would just wait and see how she handled thing. Tsukushi found this both praising and slight off-putting, as this was the first large scale case that would be handling almost alone without her father being by her side and giving her advice and guiding her throughout the whole process.

At last, Tsukushi fell into a deep, but definitely a uneasy sleep.

* * *

Life went on, but surprisingly peacefully after what had happened, if peaceful could ever be used to describe the life of Tsukushi, of course the investigations had been made, as it was necessary to follow the standard protocol, but they all knew that if SHINE was really behind it, then they might as well save themselves the time and money, as big companies, will and can get away with big cover ups. A month after the threat, Tsukushi found herself meeting Rui and Tsukasa in a small café, they had become friends of sorts. Ironically enough, a death threat had brought them together as friends, due to the time they spent together throughout the investigation.

Tsukushi's first impression of Rui, the quiet, and slightly strange boy had not changed much, apart from the fact that she now knew he was a lot less cut off and uninterested than he had first appeared, and quite a nice friend to have, pleasant and attentive, once one had gotten over his strange ways. Tsukasa on the other hand, was still as loudmouthed, bad tempered and dearly needed to have his Japanese and English corrected, but was also, as Tsukushi soon realized, a extremely loyal friend to have, and she was lucky to have him as a friend. As for Akira and Sojiro, well, they were fun to have around as friends, but their playboy tendencies were rather annoying, as flirtations every three or so second were not the best when attempting to analyse a certain very blurred logo which was lightly printed onto the back of the photograph of them.

Tsukushi walked into the café, noting that most of the supposed customers there were actually just there for their security and probably had guns under their jacket, and walked to the back where Rui and Tsukasa sat waiting for her.

"Hey guys" She greeted. They had dropped the formalities a long time ago.

"Yo" said a voice from behind a book.

"You're late. What took you so long" the other voice said, a great deal more aggressive than the first.

"Yes. Late by exactly two minutes and fifty three point nine seconds" Tsukushi replied drily, and proceed to greet Rui by pulling the book out of his hand and waving so he could see her. They talked of entirely random subjects, like ones that normal high school student would speak of, the latest music, the gossip going around, new movies and subjects like such, occasionally stepping out of the conversation for a while to answer a call, or to order more food. Before they knew it, hours had passed.

"Time runs when you're having fun" Tsukasa said, with another sore attempt at sounding wise.

"Don't you mean, "Time flies"?" Tsukushi asked, laughing at his idiotic mistake.

Tsukushi stood and slipped on her jacket and sunglasses, preparing to be the first to leave, she had some paperwork to do before going out again later that night.

* * *

As Tsukushi sat in her limousine, she wondered what she was going to say to Yuki and her older friends that she had not seen in what felt like a age. She was on her way to a reunion. Of course, each one of her old friends would be at their own different high schools, most likely as second or third years, as they were of that age, and it was in their best interest to graduate. Tsukushi checked her watch, and then realized that she would be the first to arrive, as her friends would take time to finish school and to get to the karaoke bar they were meeting in. She stopped by at the apartment store, thinking it would kill time and to buy some small gifts.

When she got to the karaoke bar, Yuki was already there waiting. Tsukushi slipped her sunglasses off so Yuki could see who she was, and was immediately nearly knocked over with a exuberant hug.

"Yes Yuki, it's nice to see you too" Tsukushi laughed, hugging her friend back.

As a security guard coughed softly behind her, Tsukushi remember that she had to put the sunglasses back on.

They decided that it would be safer for Tsukushi to wait somewhere less open while they waited for the rest of the group to arrive, and so Tsukushi was ushered into the reception of the karaoke bar, which, Tsukushi noticed, seemed like it was no cheap place to go to.

* * *

**A/N:** Wanna know why this chapter seems incomplete ? Coz it is incomplete xD I felt that I had left this story un-updated long enough, so I updated with this pathetic little half chapter now . forgive me? . I hope I didn't lose readers by this~ I'm planning on rebringing in the plot and action next chapter, stay reading please~ :D

Thanks to tera, mikae, sagittariusleo, Saranghae-Minnie, H.Y.D3292, elfandwonderful, and animeloverxxx, for reviewing the last chapter ^^

_Saranghae-Minnie: I know about your Kenny bias very very well now xD Don't worry, he's coming back into the story soon~ :D_

**Please review, they make me happy & inspired ;]**


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